In Praise of Older Cars
Written by James Pynn   
Tuesday, 09 March 2010 21:50
The used car is a thing of rare beauty. It's not something you hear many people saying, but a used car is a real treasure. I love used cars. While my tastes tend to the slightly rusted and primer-grayed, I know most people would prefer something a tad more contemporary and well kept. That's fine. In the used car world, everything is everything -- and new is something to be avoided.
by JamesPynn


The used car is a thing of rare beauty. It's not something you hear many people saying, but a used car is a real treasure. I love used cars. While my tastes tend to the slightly rusted and primer-grayed, I know most people would prefer something a tad more contemporary and well kept. That's fine. In the used car world, everything is everything -- and new is something to be avoided.

The problem with new cars isn't the fact they're so appealing, it's the fact they tend to be completely overvalued. I know we're not dealing with wholesale, but does a new car really cost $40,000? If so, why does last year's model only cost $20,000? Did 365 days take $20,000 worth of value of the so-called used car? Rain exposure? Sun pollution?

What are you really paying for? I'm getting at it how arbitrary the pricing of new cars is. I'm concerned about value. It bothers me when people pay too much -- and for too long -- on something that is worth half, and in some cases a third, of the sticker price. I know no one pays the sticker price, anymore, but if you're paying more than $20,000 for a car, new or used, something is definitely rotten in Denmark.

I've found that people get themselves leveraged behind way too much debt when they finance their vehicles. By the time they've paid the vehicle off, it's ten or fifteen years down the road and the accumulated interest had jacked the value of the no-longer-new vehicle to three or four times it's initial new car value! That means some people paid $50,000 or $60,000 for the privilege of driving a new $40,000 car! Madness!

When buying used, you can't buy on a whim. You have to vet the dealership and the car itself. You have to kick the tires, check under the hood, and get a mechanic's opinion. You have to do all the work a new car doesn't require. But think of the work you're doing now as a down payment on a huge amount of savings.

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